


Case #: 181102 (The Red Cube)

by depozyt



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - SCP Foundation, Alternate Universe - Tempo MV, Blood and Gore, Body Horror, M/M, Memory Alteration, Psychological Horror, Psychological Trauma, SCP - 167 inspired, SCP - 3008 inspired, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-18 07:36:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21890587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/depozyt/pseuds/depozyt
Summary: It has been years since Kyungsoo first entered the Red Cube, he isn't sure whether there has ever been anything besides it.
Relationships: Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongin | Kai
Comments: 9
Kudos: 29
Collections: Kaisoo OLAO Chapter Two





	Case #: 181102 (The Red Cube)

**Author's Note:**

> prompt #54, written for the "our love as one" kaisoo fic fest round ii.
> 
> TWs: blood and gore, graphic descriptions of violence, self-injurious behaviors, memory alteration, (bad) horror movie tropes
> 
> author's note: thank you to everyone who had to listen to me complain about this fic, especially to my beta who had to deal with my abuse of commas and general misuse of the english language lmao, ily.  
> dear prompter, you wanted "creepy shit", and for the eldritch gods, i hope i delivered! you don't have to know what scps are to understand the story, but if you're curious and want to check it out i made a handy google doc with references and recommendations! put on your favorite spooky playlist and enjoy!

**Case #:** 181102

 **Object Class:** Safe

 **Special Containment Procedures:** The remains of #181102 are to be contained in its original place of discovery, a forested area (██.██, ██.██) in Bukhansan National Park, Seoul, South Korea. All paths leading to or passing by the area previously affected by #181102 have been since redirected or withdrawn from all known guides. The remains of #181102 are unable to be moved due to the magnitude of their size.

The previously affected area by #181102 is to be monitored at all times, and non-personnel attempting to enter or pass through the area are to be turned away. The area can only be accessed with written permission from the Senior Researcher ████ or ██. 

**Description:** #181102 was a red cube created from a glass-like material, measuring 15 meters on its edge. A person entering the #181102 through the only door affixed to the western wall would be immediately translocated to #181102-1. The displacement would usually go unnoticed by the victim unless pointed out immediately owing to the alternating properties held by #181102-1. 

#181102-1 did not abide by the rules of Euclidean geometry. Two people could enter #181102-1 simultaneously, go through what they thought were the same areas, and never meet each other. #181102-1 consisted of three types of rooms on the ground floor: the bedroom, the bar, and the interrogation room, as well as additional type – The Chess Room – situated itself on the first floor. These rooms repeated in an undiscovered pattern, extending far beyond the limits of what could have logically been contained inside the cube.

#181102-1 was populated by an unknown number of civilians, as well as #181102-2.

#181102-2 were humanoid entities that existed within #181102-1. While in superficial terms they resembled humans, interviews suggest that #181102-2 often possessed inconsistent body proportions, along with no facial features or hair. 

#181102-1 possessed a “day-night” cycle, determined by the overhead lighting. It is unknown whether the cycle followed a pattern; the lights have been observed to turn off after as little as 30 minutes, and as much as 4 hours.

#181102-1 is presumed to have possessed time and consciousness alternating properties, alongside with dimension and time-bending qualities. Whether the remains possess similar attributes is unknown at the time of writing this report, and further examination is advised. It is reported not everyone entering #181102-1 has experienced an alteration of consciousness. Only certain individuals have been affected thus far with the following symptoms: memory loss, nightmares, and loss of identity. Only one person reported being affected by the dimension bending properties. Further interviews are advised.

The following text is a literary dramatization of events occurred on the night of ██/██/██ suited for training purposes only.

**❒❒❒**

Kyungsoo isn’t sure whether there has ever been anything besides the Red Cube. It’s all he knows. All he’s ever known.

And maybe all he will know. 

Perhaps there was a time when his thoughts weren’t enveloped in a crimson film making it impossible to know, to understand anything besides that he’s here _now -_ that he won’t leave.

He won’t leave, because there’s no exit. Or rather, there is. Except it’s unattainable. 

It isn't a big difference. Frankly, in the grand scheme of things, it may not even be one. Because what do you do with an exit you can't use to get away? Nevertheless, its existence fills Kyungsoo with hope. So, maybe, that's its purpose.

He remembers the first time he saw it - a single door in a continuum of endless walls. He ran to it, tripping on the coarse carpet, bruising and burning his knees. When Kyungsoo had almost reached it, his fingers millimeters away from touching the doorknob, the door disappeared.

Kyungsoo doesn't age. He knows it because he feels like he's been here for _years,_ and yet his appearance hasn't changed. His hair stays the same length; he never gets hungry or thirsty, and what he sees in the mirror is always the same: a buzz cut, small frame, and wide, dark eyes.

He's tried to hurt himself, to see whether he scars but he _can't._ No matter what sharp-looking object he chooses - be it a knife or shard of glass, its smooth surface glinting, reflecting the dim lights almost mocking him with its shine - it doesn't pierce his skin. The edge merely slides off, never as much as scraping him, denying him from seeing the red he so desperately wants.

There are only three types of rooms here, the bar, the bedroom, and the interrogation room. Each of them endlessly repeating in a nonsensical pattern. As if the architect gave up halfway through and then glitched.

_Bedroom, bar, bedroom, bedroom, interrogation room..._

None of them separated by doors, rather continuing forever, without a break, creating something akin to a maze. Well, because it _is_ a maze. Kyungsoo had realized it some time ago, which means there's a real exist, besides the bogus one. If not an exit, at least an entrance then. He had to have gotten here somehow. At this point, a hole in a wall would suffice too.

Amidst this, Kyungsoo has developed a routine: 

1) After the lights turn on, update the journal. (He had only begun a few weeks ago after he’d found a notebook, a pen, and a flashlight in one of the bedrooms. He doesn’t know where they came from.)

2) Start his daily rounds. (He documents every room, his makeshift map spanning over the whole notebook.)

3) Once the lights turn off, barricade in the nearest bedroom using the piano from the bar and the chest of drawers alongside with a bed.

4) Avoid monsters.

Oh yeah, because there are monsters here. How lovely. 

Kyungsoo hadn’t noticed them in the beginning, spending his first "nights" travelling in the darkness without a flashlight, occasionally tripping and bumping into furniture. Once he saw them for the first time, however, he’s been staying away ever since. 

They’re not human. 

They look like children’s drawings come to life with their postures all out of proportion. Their arms often reach the floor, or are sometimes too short and end just where the elbows should be, with their hips and legs being far too narrow to support the weight of their torsos. 

Yet, the worst are their faces. 

They’re always blank, with dents where the eyes, nose, and mouth should be. The paperwhite skin is stretched taut over these hollows, trying to mask the missing pieces of a human face. 

None of them has ever attacked Kyungsoo, but he can’t help but be wary of something that can shriek without a mouth.

The first time he heard it, he barricaded in a bedroom for two cycles. Coincidently, that’s when he found the flashlight and the incident makes Kyungsoo consider the possibility that maybe he hasn’t been here for so long after all. But for now, it’s impossible to tell. 

There's no clock; no other way to measure the time other than counting the days. It's so easy to forget yourself and what you ought to be doing something when your thoughts are fuzzy and muddled. It's the same with counting. Kyungsoo's not sure if whether he's missed some dates (a fuckton of them to be frank) or if his visit here has yet to surpass a dozen cycles in total. 

On the one hand, it's impossible. That’s not how it feels like and his feelings are the only thing he can trust in this place. On the other, maybe they aren't. Who's to say that he hasn't lost his mind already and that his sanity hasn’t been eaten away by routine and constant fear?

Would he be aware of it? Probably not.

He’s been walking all day, _cycle_ , whatever, and it's gonna get dark soon, the lights turning off with a loud click. Kyungsoo runs to the nearest bedroom, thankfully accompanied only by the sound of his footsteps. He barricades the area, this time using only a table from an interrogation room and a bed. 

He hears the piercing scream of one of the monsters and covers his ears, curls up in a corner, evens his breath and waits. 

_And waits._

**❒❒❒**

Kyungsoo knows he's dreaming, he knows it as well as the alphabet or his home address. His senses are sharpened and thoughts clear for the first time in a while. The sudden lucidity is so overwhelming at first that he doesn’t notice the other person present in the room with him. Or maybe they weren't there before, their existence promoted at that moment by Kyungsoo himself.

They're dressed in motorcycle gear comprised of a black helmet, leather jacket, and boots. Kyungsoo can't see much else from where he's standing. But there's little time to observe the stranger before their form changes, glitches even, and they’re transforming into someone else in a sudden splash of color. 

Now before Kyungsoo stands a tall man, dressed in a bright red two-piece, the color bringing out his tanned skin. In any other circumstance, Kyungsoo would have called him beautiful with his strong jaw and kind eyes, if not for the weapon in the man’s hand. 

He's carrying a… lance? Or is it a spear? Kyungsoo's never been good at differentiating weapons, but is that really that important right now? The point is that it’s long, pointy and dangerous looking, and he wants to fucking run. 

Except Kyungsoo can't. In classic dream logic, he can't move for whatever reason unknown to him. He can merely watch as the man charges at him, the spear held firmly and pointed at Kyungsoo's heart. The sound of his footsteps stops rapidly. 

It happens very quickly. It’s one confident stab from above, almost merciful and void of any unnecessary ruth.

Kyungsoo watches as the weapon tears into his chest, the point penetrating his flesh, slowly moving forward. It’s though he’s having a hole carved into himself like one would with a pumpkin. Kyungsoo feels the cold, uneven surface dragging inside, rubbing against the bone. It doesn't hurt as much as it should - having your lung fucking torn. In his dream, it's just sort of vaguely uncomfortable. Nonetheless, he screams, the warm blood dribbling down to his chin and neck. 

He tries leaning backwards, but the pike’s refraining him from reaching the floor. His legs give up as the man in Red lets the spear go and observes Kyungsoo with his face blank; emotionless. Kyungsoo slides downwards, the blood, _his blood_ , dripping down, making the metal slippery. Kyungsoo reaches the ground without a thud.

As he chokes on his blood, which is now pooling into his mouth as well as his fractured lung with every short breath, the man walks up to him and retrieves the weapon from Kyungsoo's chest, helping himself with his boot. As he’s walking away, his blood-red jacket glitches again, the material changing to leather.

Kyungsoo wakes up with a scream. He can breathe. Oh fucking god, he can breathe. There's no blood. He's not bleeding out. And there isn’t a fucking spear in sight.

But the man.

He’s still there. 

**❒❒❒**

"Kyungsoo!" the Man in Red exclaims. Except, he's not wearing anything red anymore, rather a simple jacket and a blue shirt that has discoloured with age. "We've been worried about you!" 

How he knows Kyungsoo's name, and who are this "we" he's referring to is a fucking mystery. As soon as Kyungsoo's able to comprehend that thought, he looks around, confused. There are more people in the room. Two, to be exact. 

"How's the mission going?" asks the tallest amongst them.

 _A mission?_

"Yeah, you hadn’t come back in _hours_. Jongin was starting to panic," says the other man currently inspecting the drawers of a bedside table.

Kyungsoo doesn't answer.

"Says the one who was worried about giving him a flashlight," bickers someone from the next room.

"Listen, the batteries run out in mine! Did you want to sit through the night in a dark, dark forest without a flashlight? Because that's what's gonna fucking happen now." The man, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo suddenly remembers, rolls his eyes and puts something small and transparent in his pocket. From what Kyungsoo catches it looks like a little cube. He promptly moves on to the next drawer. "Unless we get out of here after the sunrise, I guess."

"You won't, there's no exit."

"What do you mean? The door is literally right the--oh," Baekhyun pauses after pointing to the side. Because there's no door, there never has been one. "Well fuck." 

Everyone except Kyungsoo looks at the wall where the exit apparently should be.

"At least we know why so many people disappeared in this area recently," says the man named Chanyeol, as Kyungsoo's brain graciously supplies. Who are these people? Why does he know their names? And why were they looking for him? 

"Kyungsoo, is everything alright?" asks the former Man in Red, who's now sitting next to him on the floor.

"I don't--I don't know," he answers honestly, his thoughts again blurring together. Everything about the man is familiar, his voice and the little smile he gives him, reassuring instead of terrifying like before, somehow comforting despite the circumstances. 

"Did you have a nightmare?” Kyungsoo nods, and the stranger starts rubbing soothing circles on his back. 

“You stabbed me with a spear, and watched me bleed out," he describes the events that occurred in his dream, no longer than a few minutes ago, the memories still fresh. Why it is so easy to talk to this person when he hasn't spoken to anyone in weeks is unanswerable. Kyungsoo feels like he's running on autopilot, doing the thing that not him but a version of himself would do. 

A part of him trusts this man more than anything and it's _scary_. Maybe not in the same way the Red Cube is, but in this more emotionally vulnerable, intimate way. 

"Yikes," comments Baekhyun. "Maybe you should try falling asleep again? You look exhausted, you can stay here with Jongin. We will, you know, look around," he shrugs.

So that's the man's name, Jongin. For some reason, it feels like home to Kyungsoo, like a word spoken too many times that had lost its original meaning, but which has then since gained a new one.

Kyungsoo doesn't have the strength to protest, mumbling something in agreement and putting his head on Jongin's shoulder. He quickly dozes off, this time not dreaming of anything.

When he wakes up, instead of uncertainty and fright he feels safe, and oh fucking god everything has come back. Kyungsoo knows what the fuck he's doing here and who the people who came to rescue him are. He recalls who Jongin is, and why he trusts him so much. 

Ah, it's all so simple in the grand scheme of things, but considering he had troubles remembering his name, and how much time he's spent _here,_ it's no wonder he couldn't grasp it. 

The memories come flooding back to Kyungsoo. Recollections of his first day working at the Foundation, the piles of paperwork, the bitter taste of coffee, and too big lab coat with stains of a mysterious origin he can't get out resurface. 

The memories include the sound of Chanyeol typing on his old, noisy typewriter, the sight of Baekhyun's wicked grin when they get a call about a new case, the view of Jongdae's flasks and measuring-glasses neatly arranged and labeled on the lab shelves.

There are also memories of Jongin, of quick, light kisses before meetings, hushed talks in the backroom, lingering touches and all-knowing looks. And Kyungsoo just _understands_.

He gets why he looked for the exit so desperately. Because he wants this, whatever _this_ is, so much. And the sheer thought that he could never see these people again, see _Jongin_ again, brings him almost physical pain.

“Is everything alright? You look… surprised?” asks Jongin who’s still sitting next to Kyungsoo, but now with a stack of papers laying around them. 

Kyungsoo doesn’t give a fuck whether he crumbles some of the reports while hugging Jongin so hard his arms hurt. 

“Easy, easy,” comforts him Jongin. “Did you have a nightmare again?”

“No.” Kyungsoo shakes his head, feeling like he could cry from relief. “Jongin, I--I almost forgot about you. I couldn’t remember your name when I saw you. I--I don’t know what it is about this place but you _forget_. And I don’t want to--I can’t--forget you.” The tears prickle his eyes, dripping down at Jongin’s shirt and leaving wet patches.

Jongin hugs him back. “And you didn’t.”

But before Kyungsoo can fall apart completely, thinking about the possibility of never remembering Jongin again, they hear Jongdae’s scream.

“The absolute fuck is this?!” The man runs from the room next to them, a faceless creature right behind him. The monster isn’t necessary following Jongdae, rather walking aimlessly as they do during the “day”. They only become aggressive when the lights turn off or, well…

“Don’t attack it!” Kyungsoo commands and stands up to shield Jongdae off. “It won’t harm you if leave it alone!”

Jongdae whines and moves behind Kyungsoo, the creature passing through the whole room without even acknowledging them. Its steps are clumsy and laden, the legs too long and thin to support its weight without breaking like twigs. And as it's leaving, it moves its head in their direction. If not for the lack of facial features, Kyungsoo would have said it was staring at them. The dents where the eyes and the mouth are so eerie and nonhuman and his brain can't help but try to fill in the gaps.

Jongin just looks at the scene in shock, and the paperwork lies to the side long forgotten.

“Shit, what was that?!” he demands, dropping the mask of professionalism he’d been trying to uphold till this point. This is not what they were trained to do, nor is it something they’ve encountered before.

Well, at least it is for Jongin, who’s still only an intern, and Jongdae, who works in the lab. Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun have the experience, but even for them, this operation is unusual. They rarely interact with anomalies that could physically harm them.

“I don’t know but there’s plenty of them here. They just walk around,” he explains. “Where’s the rest of the team?”

“They went the other way, but they couldn’t have gone that far," Jongdae says. "We should go look for them, like right now."

Kyungsoo nods.

They pick up the equipment, which doesn't contain any weapon; just mostly lab gear and a lot of reports containing interviews held with the locals about the anomaly. At least now they know why there weren't any first-hand reports describing how the inside of the cube looks like. It’s because no one who has reached inside has ever returned. The realization is daunting, even to Kyungsoo who has been trained on how to handle this sort of situation.

 _Secure. Contain. Protect._ That's the motto all of them had been taught to live by. Protecting the unsuspecting population is their most important goal, even if they have to pay with their lives. Kyungsoo sincerely hopes that's not the case this time, that they won’t have to make this kind of decision. Granted, it’s especially hard to distinguish between his personal and work-related priorities when the life of his boyfriend is on the line.

At least he has Jongin, at least he's not alone here anymore, Kyungsoo tries to ineptly comfort himself.

They move through the rooms quickly, careful not to waste too much time and risk forgetting their goal. That’s what Kyungsoo fears the most - the prospect of forgetting again, because this time there will be no one to remind him, to pull him from the depths of his mind. But luckily, Baekhyun and Chanyeol haven't gone too far, just like Jongdae had said.

"Has something happened?" Baekhyun asks, leaning out from behind the bar.

"Have you encountered any monsters yet?" asks Jongdae. Baekhyun soundly denies.

"Don't attack them under any circumstance, please. They won't harm you, as long as the lights are on and you leave them alone," he pleas.

"Why shouldn't we though?" Chanyeol questions, looking at Kyungsoo's makeshift map of the cube as the latter compares it with his notes. "We still need to research this place, remember." 

And this is the thing with Chanyeol, he always desperately tries to maintain a mask of cold professionalism. In times like this, it can't help but drive Kyungsoo mad because it's not just about them. If they die here, who's going to continue the damn research? Who's going to take care of the other anomalies? They aren't a bunch of replaceable cogs in the machine.

"What we need is to get out of here," he scoffs to Jongin's surprise, who gently puts his hand on Kyungsoo's shoulder in an attempt to calm him.

Chanyeol sighs. "We can't if we have nothing to show for it."

"You can't be serious, Chanyeol! This place is dangerous. It's not only the monsters and the lack of exit. God, I wish it was just that. Chanyeol, when you came to rescue me, I couldn't remember your names, I couldn't remember who Jongin was for fuck’s sake. We can't stay here for long," he tries again.

The other researcher just stares at him in disbelief.

"Maybe we should look for the missing civilians?" prompts Jongin, cutting through the awkward silence. "They have to be here somewhere, and if we find them, we can get the information about this place from them. No monster-killing necessary."

"Have you seen any traces of other people? Some trash or, I don't know, graffiti maybe?" asks Baekhyun, the topic of fighting the creatures seemingly forgotten.

"Not really, but I wouldn't say I was conscious for most of the time I've spent here," Kyungsoo shrugs, "But I think we should head the same way as the monster. They tend to gravitate towards people, I think."

Decidedly, they follow Kyungsoo's hunch and head north, or at least the way the compass identifies as north since they have no point of reference in the cube. No one would be surprised if they were actually going west, or frankly, any other way considering it's impossible to know what other effects this place even has.

Even with his trusted team, the place is still disorientating. It’s the feeling of seeing something familiar over and over again but not recognizing it right away that gets to Kyungsoo. He's been in rooms similar to the ones they pass by countless times, but never in the room they're currently in.

Every time it's like visiting a house that was built on the same floor plans as yours, it's vaguely identifiable as your own as something you've grown used to but not quite the same, alien in the most well-known way. You can almost see your furniture standing in the rooms that do not belong to you.

"Did you really forget our names?" asks Chanyeol after they pass what is maybe, Kyungsoo isn't counting, the tenth bedroom, no other people in sight. There's a tinge of humility to his words like he wants to apologize for his previous behavior without actually saying so.

"I did," says Kyungsoo, squeezing Jongin's hand, "And it wasn't only your names, it was everything. Who I was, what I was doing here, that someone was waiting for me to get out of here, everything. I don't know--understand--why I was able to remember."

"We'll have to interview you, check whether there are gaps in your memory," points out Baekhyun.

"There definitely are. I know my address but not my birthday or whether I live alone. There might be some false memories too but I have no way of identifying that right now."

"The twelfth of January," says Jongin. "Your birthday is on the twelfth of January, and right now you live alone." He gives Kyungsoo a small smile but his expression betrays his true feelings. And Kyungsoo can't imagine how hard it must be for him too, can’t understand the uncertainty.

What if he has forgotten something important? Something that was precious to both of them and now is lost forever on his end? There's no way of determining that right now and the thought makes Kyungsoo shiver. It's like he's alone again in the endless corridors of the cube, not sure there’s even a way out.

Kyungsoo’s about to speak up when he sees movement in a bar that’s a few meters away. Chanyeol must’ve seen it too because he runs there without a word. He’s sure it wasn’t a monster. They’re pretty hard to miss since most of the interior isn’t white. For a moment Kyungsoo remembers the black motorcyclist from his dream, the way he disappeared in a flurry of colors. But that couldn’t have been him, right? Kyungsoo’s pretty sure that the man doesn’t actually exist, and was just prompted by his confused brain.

Knowing how things work around here, now that Kyungsoo has comprehended this thought it’s never going to turn out this way, is it?

They all rush in the direction of the movement, Jongdae’s lab gear chiming loudly. Chanyeol's already there, watching in disbelief as three more people perk up from a makeshift tent that probably provides as much protection as a pillow fort. 

"Are you here to rescue us?" asks one of the civilians. Kyungsoo can only bring himself to nod.

It's one thing to theoretically know there are other people here, and something completely different to actually see them, hear them. The realisation is a rude awakening that _oh my god_ , there are living, breathing people here. People who are as terrified as he was not so long ago.

"Yes, we're the rescue team from the Foundation, an organization devoted to locating and containing entities that violate natural law," recites Baekhyun in one breath. "Basically we're gonna get you out of here." He elbows Chanyeol to say something instead of just staring.

Chanyeol clears his throat. “As Baekhyun said, we’ve been sent here to investigate this whole place, and well, to rescue any potential missing civilians. There have been around dozen of missing persons reported to have been last seen in the area of Bukhansan National Park.”

“Bukhansan?” one of the strangers asks, his brows raised. “I don’t think I’ve ever been there, I’m not even from Seoul.”

“The cube has not been observed anywhere else, you must be mistaken."

"No, I'm pretty sure of my place of birth.” The man stands next to Chanyeol, he’s almost as tall as the researcher. “I’m also pretty sure that cube appeared in my hometown, which I repeat, is not Seoul.” He sizes Chanyeol up.

“Do you remember what day you went into the cube?” asks Jongin.

The man contemplates for a second. “Sometime in August? I think it was the fifteenth? Why are you asking?"

"It's already September," Jongin points out. "If it was observed outside of Bukhansan around two weeks ago, and in the park just yesterday it means it can move between locations. It's possible if we manage to get out, we won't be in the same place we got in," he concludes. 

Well, this is certainly not ideal.

One of the strangers perks up. "Did the headquarters inform you about any missing personnel?" he asks with a hopeful expression. 

Kyungsoo turns to Chanyeol, his brows furrowed.

"I'm sorry but we're the first team to investigate this anomaly," Chanyeol says in a no-nonsense tone of voice. "You must be mistaken, sir." 

"I was also sent here to investigate though. I've my license with me and written permission. Look." He takes out his wallet, the documents stating as clear as day: Kim Minseok, Researcher at the Foundation. Chanyeol takes out his license to compare if it’s a fake, in the end, he's not able to tell. 

“Fuck,” he mutters.

"We're not aware of any other investigation taking place at this time, Minseok," says Baekhyun, nervously playing with a button on his cuff. "We were, in fact, the first responders since the anomaly was reported on our site."

Minseok doesn't say a word after that, clearly trying to make some sense out of this whole mess of a mission. 

“Does anyone else here work for the Foundation?” Jongdae asks, the remaining two men denying. “We’ll have to conduct interviews with all of you later.”

“Don’t bother with me, I can’t remember anything,” says the third man who has been silent up to this point, standing behind the other two.

"Do you know your name?" continues Jongdae.

"I know it's Junmyeon but that's only because I have my wallet with me. Without my ID I wouldn't be able to answer your question."

"If your memory doesn't come back on its own, I'm afraid we can't do anything, Junmyeon," Kyungsoo says, unease pooling in his stomach. He knows it’s useless to sympathize in these kinds of situations when he isn’t even sure he can help, but he feels for these people. What happened to them, and to him too, is simply unfair. It’s a perverse joke at their expense.

The lights flicker and then turn off with a loud click. Jongdae quickly goes through his bag and turns on the flashlight, the weak light not lifting their spirits even a bit. 

“Maybe the light will drive the monstres away?” he asks without much hope in his voice. 

Kyungsoo sighs and shakes his head. “I doubt it.” 

They decide to barricade next to the tent using the bedframe, the mattress and some of the nightstands. The furniture is light and easy to move around and Kyungsoo knows that it doesn't provide much actual protection, but hey, it's much better than nothing. They work in silence since it's useless to conduct interviews now because it’ll have to be written down anyway and everyone would much rather be doing that in the comfort of their office building.

If they manage to get out, that is. Kyungsoo internally scolds himself for his pessimistic attitude. They will get out; there's no other option.

"I have forgotten something, haven't I?" he asks Jongin, his voice low and unsure, countless scenarios coming alive in his mind, making him, even more, anxious. They're sitting outside of the tent in complete darkness, both of them with their backs against the wall. The rest of the team has either decided to stay with the civilians or like Jongdae and Minseok, who still insists that he works for the Foundation, try to get some samples from around the room.

"How did you know?" Jongin chuckles. "Am I that awkward?"

"Actually yes, that's how I know," Kyungsoo chuckles as well. "I can't remember what happened right before I arrived here so I'm guessing it's somehow connected." He shrugs attempting to fake nonchalance, even though he's sure he's failing at that. "Please tell me if we broke up or something."

"Oh my god, Soo, no, don't even suggest that!" Jongin abandons the quiet tone, a sheepish laugh escaping his mouth. "Nothing of the sorts happened, I promise. We just had a little argument, that's all."

"I feel like you're still not telling me everything though," he says, anxiety cutting his breath short.

"You're right, I'm not." Jongin takes his hand, the touch grounding Kyungsoo in a way, reminding him not to get lost in his thoughts and doubts. "But not because I'm trying to hide anything from you, Soo. It's just not a conversation we should have right now. I promise it's nothing bad, and I'll get it sorted out once we get out of here," he says as he gives Kyungsoo's hand a reassuring squeeze.

Kyungsoo nods in approval, finally, a bit calmed down, and then he sees it, the flurry of colors he vividly remembers from his dream. The darkness before them glitches, exploding in different hues and the motorcyclist suddenly appears.

Jongin gasps in surprise. "What the fuck?" he whispers as if to prevent the biker from hearing him.

"I wish I knew."

The man (creature??) just stands there, motionless, probably watching them, and Kyungsoo can't help but be wary of him. After all, it was he who killed him in the dream. Well, stabbed and left to die to be precise.

"I've seen him before," he tells Jongin.

"Where?"

"In my nightmare."

**❒❒❒**

"What do you mean by an 'internship'?" Kyungsoo asks, feeling the chilly wind through his unbuttoned jacket. 

The park is dark with no working lanterns in sight. How cliché, Kyungsoo thinks. Why can't they deal with paranormal matters in daylight? Why does it always have to be the middle of the night?

"They want me to train at the headquarters," answers Jongin. "I'm going to be away for a few months."

Oh, so that's how it's gonna go then.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Jongin, this is the worst time for you to be telling me about this," says Kyungsoo, something unpleasant prickling at his heart. 

They're about to go in. He's specifically requested Jongin to accompany him during the mission, making use of his status as his supervisor, and the fact that this mission looks easy enough for a beginner. Sure, it's a big, scary, red cube standing in the middle of a national park, but it's not something he hasn't dealt with before. A perfect first mission for your favorite (only) intern/boyfriend. 

And he knows that's how the Foundation operates. You take part in a couple of internships, usually two or three, then get your license. He's been through that process himself not that long ago. It's not the internship he has an issue with, it's that Jongin hadn’t told him up to this point. Like he doesn't trust him or is not taking _them_ seriously.

"Because they didn't tell me any dates, I thought I still had time. I really wanted to move in with you, Kyungsoo. But now we'll have to wait." And it's the way he says it too, that has Kyungsoo wondering why Jongin doesn’t trust him. 

He's probably, definitely, overthinking it, adding malicious intent where there was none. But he just feels… disappointed. Let down, even. He's been looking forward to the day when they can go home _together_ for some time now, and that day has just been delayed, for god knows how long. And all of that has to show on his face, in his posture, because Jongin takes him into a hug, his warmth contrasting with the chilly night.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," he says. But it's just too much for Kyungsoo; the sincerity in Jongin's voice is too much. Of course, he didn't know. It’s no one's fault, and especially not his. And so he jostles his boyfriend away. 

"I'm going in alone, I just need some time to myself. It's not your fault, I know," he says, turning away, his hand already touching the knob.

And as the door closes he hears Jongin's voice, calling him to come back.

**❒❒❒**

Jongin feels at a loss what to do next. He could call the rest of the team, explain that Kyungsoo broke all safety rules imaginable and decided to go in, alone, only with basic equipment. The rational part of his brain tells him that that’s what he’s obligated to do, he has to follow the rules enforced upon him. Except, it’s the organisation that made those rules that have put them in this unfavorable situation in the first place.

For the second time no less. 

Jongin had lived through this before.

He's been in the cube before and this is his second attempt, or rather chance. As it turns out, the cube not only travels through space but time too. They've been there before, they tried to get away, to escape from that place. But it didn't work, and Jongin can't remember how he came back. The only thing he’s sure about is that he has to stop this.

He vividly remembers entering the cube with Kyungsoo, the older firmly squeezing his hand to calm him down. They were dressed in the same clothes, talked about the same things right before the mission started. Everything was the same.

When they arrived at the park, he had been hit with such an intense feeling of deja vu, he froze in place. Whatever happened in that place was bound to happen again. 

Jongin knows that what he saw isn't necessarily true, it could've been fabricated by the anomaly, implemented in his mind mere seconds after he looked at it. But he can't shake off the feeling of absolute dread every time he so much as glances at the building, he can't go back there. 

No, he has to go back, for Kyungsoo. He failed to stop him. He failed to keep him safe and now he’s there, alone. 

What’s happening now is not what happened the first time around. Back then they had crossed those crimson doors together, hand in hand, but only Jongin returned from the cube. That’s why he wanted to prevent Kyungsoo from going there why he tried to start an argument to distract him and go there by himself. Somehow, he made the opposite happen.

Jongin looks up at the bright-red building and dials Chanyeol’s number to call for support, his hands shaking slightly. 

**❒❒❒**

The motorcyclist turns around and starts walking away from them to which Jongin immediately stands up and starts following him.

“What are you doing?” Kyungsoo hisses under his breath. In response Jongin just shrugs and points at the biker. 

The researcher silently curses and picks himself up as well. As he passes the barricade they have built not so long ago, he can feel his stomach drop. This is not going to end well. They stumble through the dark corridors, walking right behind the man dressed in motorcycle gear for what feels, and might as well be, hours. There’s nothing but the sound of their footsteps, and the occasional shriek of a monster in the distance, that accompanies them on their journey.

_Thump._

_Thump._

They’re voluntary stepping into the lion’s den, unarmed and exhausted and Kyungsoo feels like crying out of frustration. He’s not going to leave Jongin, not now, not in this place, but he also wishes they stayed at the camp or at least took the rest of the team with them.

When Kyungsoo feels like screaming and telling Jongin to go back since, clearly, there’s nothing there to see; the biker stops. The lights flicker several times and then light up, making both men wince. 

They’re standing right before what can only be described as old, elevator doors embedded in one of the walls, the biker seemingly gone from their sight. Kyungsoo stares at the only button that’s located on the left side of the doors, not sure about what he should do. 

He looks up at Jongin, asking the obvious question without saying a word. Jongin smiles at him gently and nods. 

Kyungsoo pushes the button and immediately steps aside, afraid of what’s going to happen next. The elevator arrives seconds later with a loud ping, and the doors open, revealing the surprisingly clean and modern inside, dark hardwood floor and red walls. Jongin steps in first and Kyungsoo follows soon after, almost without hesitation. The metal doors close in front of them and before they can have a look around the space, the elevator starts going up. 

The room they arrive in doesn’t look like anything they have seen before in this place, well, mostly because it is a single room. It’s constructed of self-contained four walls that do not repeat or continue forever. In the middle, there’s a construction that Kyungsoo would describe as a fancy flower bed, or if he were less sarcastic, a two-level marble platform with a pit in the center filled to the brim with hot pink flowers. On the edge of the first level lays a chessboard, except the pawns don’t look like anything Kyungsoo has seen before.

These aren’t ordinary chess pieces, they are quite simplistically designed, as every unique piece is a glass prism of a different height, scattering the light in a multitude of colors. But before Kyungsoo can have a better look at this bizarre board game, he hears the elevator doors open again and he feels his stomach drop and senses sharpen. Is it the biker? Does he even need to use the elevator, or can’t he actually teleport? 

The first person to come in, to his surprise but also relief, is Minseok, with Jongdae following right behind him.

“I’m so sorry for scaring you,” the lab tech mutters. “He decided to follow you and, well, I got assigned to monitor him so I had to go with him since he’s so stubborn and won’t listen to me.” He glares at the other man.

“What is this place?” asks Minseok as he looks around the room and eventually spots the same chessboard that piqued Kyungsoo’s interest. 

“We don’t know.” Jongin shrugs. “We just followed the creepy motorcyclist.” The answer seems to satisfy Minseok since he doesn’t ask more follow-up questions. Instead, he walks up to the board and moves one of the pawns, like he's starting an actual game.

“This is weird,” he says looking at it up close.

“Why?” Jongdae asks as he sits on the floor, his back up against the white wall. The room is small enough that if he wanted, he could reach the podium with his legs stretched. “Is something wrong with it?” 

Minseok rotates the piece in his hand, carefully studying it. Kyungsoo wonders about it too, sure it looks pretty fancy, in that minimalist sort of way, but that's not out of the ordinary, you could describe a lot of things in the cube this way. But the longer he looks at the board, the more convinced he gets that something, indeed, isn't right here.

“Shouldn’t at least one of sets be a different color? Or just different in some way? How could you tell your pieces apart from your opponent's?” Minseok looks up at him and nods in approval, a wicked smile appearing on his lips. “But they are all the same. Identical. This means it must be something else, not chess, like a logic puzzle maybe,” he says, his voice getting louder with every word. 

They all gather on the podium. Kyungsoo dumps the pieces on the marble and starts sorting them by height, there are thirty-two of them in total, exactly like in chess. 

"These aren't perfect prisms, look," Jongin says after inspecting two of the smallest pawns. He demonstrates by putting them together so they're touching but when he turns them around, suddenly they don't fit so well. After a few tries, they determine the center piece, it’s one of the “queens” and none of its walls are perpendicular to the ends. 

"Do you think it's all of the pieces though?" Jongdae asks as he tries to determine the corner piece by turning it around on the podium. 

But his question goes ignored by the rest of the group, all of them too preoccupied with trying to put the puzzle together. Even with four of them present it’s not as easy as it looked in the beginning. This thing is way out of Kyungsoo’s comfort zone, which mostly consists of solving crossword and sudoku puzzles when he’s bored on the train, and the fact that they should come up with the solution as fast as they can to leave this place doesn’t really encourage anyone. It mostly paralyzes them with fear. 

It’s surprisingly easy to forget about it though. The same way you don’t realize you’re chewing on your pen during an exam or tearing apart a receipt on an awkward date, or even that you’re picking at a scab. You don’t realize it until the refill starts leaking, the receipt turns into a pile of scraps and the wound starts bleeding again. Until you forget for a moment that you're in this place, and you don't know how to leave.

Kyungsoo can’t tell how long they sit in that small, white room, every minute he spends in there, it feels both like an eternity and like a flash. They could spend only a few hours here, or maybe days, and no one could tell. There’s a digital clock attached to one of the walls but it’s turned off, its face blank.

Both he and Jongin doze off at some point, with Kyungsoo’s head on his boyfriend’s knees, and when he wakes up their fingers are still intertwined and the cube is almost done. 

“I really don’t think there are enough pieces,” Jongdae says pointing at the puzzle, and for the first time, Kyungsoo sees what the lab tech means. Even with the remaining pieces, there’s going to be some space left. 

“But that’s all we have left,” Minseok throws the remaining three pawns like one would with dice, the sound they make when they touch the podium reminds Kyungsoo of marbles hitting each other. 

_Dice. A cube. Where has he seen that before?_

“Maybe it’s not put together correctly?” Jongdae asks, the doubt audible in his voice. 

“You really think so?”

“No,” he admits, sounding defeated. “But it’s incomplete, and I feel shitty that I can’t do anything about it.”

“We can at least try to put it as close together as possible right now,” Kyungsoo attempts a weak, reassuring smile. “Come on.” He places one of the pieces in its spot with a quiet ping.

Jongdae hesitates for a few seconds, but then he inserts the prism in its place and it’s up to Minseok to put the “last” piece in, and as soon as he does it the digital clock they had thought to be broken, starts loudly beeping. Jongin immediately wakes up. 

"What the hell?" 

Everyone looks at him. "We just finished the puzzle and, I don't know, it just started," Kyungsoo says, vaguely moving his hands. "Maybe we need to find the last piece for the clock to stop?"

"Great, we have, what," Jongdae looks at the clock, "An hour to find one, small piece in this neverending, fucking cube. How are we gonna do that?"

_A small piece._

"Baekhyun!" Kyungsoo exclaims. "Baekhyun has it!" His heart is beating so fast, the beeping is muffled by the sound of his blood rushing.

Of course, of fucking course, that small cube he's found is important.

"How do you know?" Minseok asks. 

"I saw him going through one of the nightstands when I got my memory back, I didn't think much of it then, but I remember he put a small cube in his pocket," he says, lively talking with his hands. "This must be it!"

They all rush to the elevator, the clock forgotten. If they want to get back in time, they'll have to run, and hope they can find this room again. The elevator door opens and Kyungsoo starts to run.

**❒❒❒**

When they reach the camp, Kyungsoo is covered in sweat and almost out of breath. Out of the four of them, Minseok and Jongin seem to actually be doing quite fine, on the other hand, he and Jongdae both feel and look like they're about to die. This is certainly not the way Kyungsoo imagined he would go in a place like this, but what can you do when you had spent the last three years mostly sitting in your office chair and filling out the paperwork Chanyeol refused to do.

They still have to come back to the chess room in time and it’s impossible to tell how much time has passed. He’s tried to count the time but he can’t concentrate, the thoughts running away from him. It’s frustrating.

“Do you think we will make it?” Kyungsoo asks, feeling like he’s fighting with his lungs to take a proper breath. 

“If they didn’t move far away from the camp, I think we have a chance,” says Jongin as he picks up the pace again. 

There’s no time and no point in asking questions none of them can answer, but Kyungsoo needs the reassurance. He needs that glimmer of hope to motivate him to keep going, to keep on moving forward.

They find Sehun and Chanyeol first. The researcher is sitting in one of the office chairs in an interrogation room, leaning back and watching Sehun play the piano standing in the bar. Chanyeol looks at them relieved and combs his hair with his hand. On the other hand, Sehun doesn't stop playing the calm, haunting melody, instead, he looks at the four men like they're not really there. At first, Kyungsoo can't bring himself to interrupt him. 

It's a little, beautiful and peaceful moment, one of the few that has expended in the cube. He takes a few seconds to listen, to let himself breathe, seconds he doesn't have to spare.

“Where’s Baekhyun?” he pants, bending down and putting his palms on his knees. 

“In the nearest bedroom,” answers Sehun, finally acknowledging them, and nods in the appropriate direction. He stops playing the piano, cutting the melody before its end. “What happened?” 

Kyungsoo’s legs feel like they’re made out of jelly, he ignores it and takes the path that will lead them to Baekhyun. There's no time.

“We’ll explain on the way,” he hears Minseok say behind him.

If they make it in time, this will be the end. Kyungsoo can’t explain why he feels this way, why he believes it to be true. At this point, he should doubt and disregard all his hunches, write them off as wishful thinking. Somehow, this time, he can’t.

He's sure solving the puzzle is the key they've been blindly looking for

He enters the white bedroom with his heart in his throat. Baekhyun’s sitting on the floor, his back up against the side of the bed. He’s writing in his journal, the notebook propped up by his knee. Junmyeon, on the other hand, is laying on top of the bed, fiddling with something reflective.

_The prism. The last piece._

It exists, god, it really does. He didn’t imagine it.

“Junmyeon!” Kyungsoo can’t control the volume of his voice in excitement and relief. “Junmyeon, could you give me that?” 

The man shrugs and extends his hand to give him the cube. The researcher touches the glass.

“There you go?” Kyungsoo feels like crying, the relief washing over him in waves and making him realize just how exhausted he is. He stares blankly at the prism, admiring the way it scatters the bright light and distorts his hand.

“There’s no time!” says Jongin. “We have to go!”

Kyungsoo takes the second to breathe in and exhale deeply. Jongin’s right. They have to hurry.

“Why?” Baekhyun asks, picking himself up from the floor. 

"This," Kyungsoo lifts the cube, "Is the key to getting out of here." Baekhyun and Junmyeon nod in acknowledgment.

No one asks more questions after that, they all just follow Jongin and Minseok, the almost empty rooms echoing with the sound of their hurried steps. By the time they reach the elevator doors, Kyungsoo feels like he’s going to either faint or throw up. He holds back from wondering how long he hasn’t eaten or drank anything, how much time has really passed in the outside world. Upon the elevator door closing, Kyungsoo squats on the floor. He's so exhausted, not only physically from the run but mentally too.

Jongin starts drawing soothing circles on his back. “Try breathing in as deep as you can, it’s almost over.” Kyungsoo squeezes the cube in his hand, the edges digging into his skin, the pain grounding him. It really might be over. If it isn’t, he’s not sure he has the strength to go on. 

As he steps into the chess room, he can feel the atmosphere change. It might be just in his head but Kyungsoo swears he smells the metallic smell of ozone up in the air. The clock hasn’t stopped yet, the screen counting down the last minutes. They’ve made it.

He walks up to the chessboard, Kyungsoo’s whole body is shaking, he feels like each one of his limbs is trying to detach itself from the whole. He bites the inside of his cheek hard enough for his teeth to leave an imprint. It’s all going to be over soon. 

Kyungsoo turns the prism for the last time in his hand like he’s saying a weird kind of goodbye to the object, and places it in its spot, completing the puzzle. For a few seconds nothing happens, every member of the team breathing deeply, anticipating _something_. Then, the digital clock beeps loudly, the sound piercing right through Kyungsoo’s panic. He blinks in surprise and when he opens his eyes, he’s alone in the chess room. 

Except, he's not, not really. The seven people he had walked into this room might not be with him at the moment but the motorcyclist is. He stares at the man, none of them moving a centimeter. Kyungsoo starts shaking even more than he already was.

 _I want to go home,_ he thinks. _I want all of us to get out of here._

The biker nods, as if he had heard Kyungsoo’s wish, the dim lights mirrored in his helmet move up and down. Kyungsoo can see his reflection in it, he looks so tired, so defeated. He reaches to take the helmet off of the man, to see the person, seemingly, behind this nightmare. When he touches the motorcyclist, the man glitches and his form explodes in a burst of color.

And just like in the now long-forgotten dream, he feels something go through his chest. It’s not as intense as before, it’s more like his body is remembering the event, rather than reliving it. He touches his lips, wiping what he thinks might be blood dribbling down his chin. There’s nothing on it. He isn’t bleeding.

Kyungsoo closes his eyes and his knees give up. He’s sure he’s not injured but it’s all entirely too much. When he reaches the ground, he’s not greeted with the cold, hard marble floor he had expected. Instead, his hands touch something wet and soft.

The temperature has changed as well, it’s way colder now, and humid too. He can feel the drizzle on his exposed nape. Kyungsoo opens his eyes and looks around.

He’s not in the chess room anymore. He faintly recognizes the area as Bukhansan National Park, the place they had found the Red Cube in. They've gotten out. 

They've really done it. 

Kyungsoo stands up, his stance shaky, and looks around once again. To his right, he sees Jongin running towards him, waving his arms, he can't help but smile so hard his cheeks start to hurt, and waves back at him. He looks down on the ground under his feet and next to him he sees an unconscious man dressed up in motorcycle gear. 

_I want all of us to get out of here_.

_All._

Kyungsoo feels light-headed. He’s about to faint. 

**❒❒❒**

The preceding text is a work of fiction created for training purposes within the Foundation only. All non-personnel caught distributing, duplicating, or exporting the material in any way will be put under direct investigation.

The actions taken by the characters in the text aren’t representative of the personnel working for the Foundation. Some sensitive information has been changed to protect the privacy of the people involved.

**Author's Note:**

> the second plot twist (?) was that jongin and kyungsoo got to the chess room, except it was jongin who put the last piece in? and he wished to back, and well, that's why he got to experience the time loop. i just didn't want to change the pov again.
> 
> comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!


End file.
